One of our Edinburgh tea party groups had Ukrainian refugee Tania as a special guest at their recent get together.  

Tania, 37, has been living with tea party host Angela and husband Ralph since September and was more than happy to help out making sandwiches and serving tea whilst enjoying the companionship. 

Tania left her home near the border with Belarus after the fighting became intense. Her parents have stayed in Ukraine but were anxious for Tania to leave. She keeps in regular contact with her relatives, but she finds it hard to be apart from them which gives her an empathy with the older guests at the tea party experiencing loneliness and isolation. 

“The UK and Ukraine have things in common,” said Tania, who has a British resident’s permit allowing her to stay here for three years. “The people are so friendly, warm and open. I feel very at home here. And to take part in the tea party was a wonderful thing.  

“It was a super nice afternoon. The older people were great. They had so many varied and interesting things to talk about and they all wished for peace in my country. It was very touching.  

“In the Ukraine we look after our older people in a similar way – we take them food and make sure they are OK. But there is nothing like the tea parties. They are such a great idea that I will make 100% sure I implement them when I get back to Ukraine. I just adored being at the one at Angela’s home.”  

Angela, who has been an Edinburgh tea party host for 18 years, said: “Tania was very happy to get involved. She speaks very good English and happily chatted with the guests, who were keen to know all about her. We didn’t talk particularly about the invasion but there was an affinity because some of our older people lived through the Second World War. And Tania is very community spirited so fitted in very well with the occasion. 

“Tania is such a wonderful, caring and hard-working woman that I’m sure she will have lots of options to choose from when it comes to deciding where to live and what job she wants to do in the future”, added Angela.